Serena Williams unlikely to play again this year
Steve Bierley
Saturday April 15, 2006
The Guardian
Serena Williams, the seven-time grand slam champion who has been out of action since losing in the Australian Open third round in January, is expected to announce shortly that she will not play any more tennis this year.
Williams has dropped to world No106 and has struggled with injuries since having an operation on her left knee in 2003. Six of her grand-slam victories came before that surgery and, although she appeared to have turned her career around at the beginning of last year when she won the Australian Open, the younger of the Williams sisters has failed to make the quarter-finals in her last three slams.
She was patently unfit and ill-prepared when she lost to Daniela Hantuchova in Melbourne three months ago, and since then has withdrawn from every event she has entered. The 24-year-old American, who has earned close to $16m (£9m) in prize money alone since turning professional in 1995, has numerous outside interests, including a tentative career in acting and her own fashion label.
It would be unwise to write off her career at this stage, given that she took eight months out in 2003-04, and has rarely, like her sister Venus, played a full season. Serena will also have noted that Martina Hingis, the former world No1, "retired"' in 2002 before returning last year. Nothing has ever been straightforward with the Williams sisters.
There is also concern within the WTA, the women's ruling body, that Venus, who will be 26 in June, may be unable to defend her Wimbledon title. Since losing in the first round of the Australian Open she has also spent the rest of the year posting her absence with a series of ligament sprains to her right arm, including the wrist and elbow.
If Venus, currently ranked No 12, does not manage to get play on the European clay courts this spring it may be impossible for the five-time slam champion to compete on grass, although last year she famously won Wimbeldon for a third time after minimum preparation. In this respect the sisters have always been a law to themselves although their father and coach Richard Williams has always insisted his daughters should retire early.
With so much revenue generated in the United States, the WTA will be anxious to give the Williams sisters all the time they need. Lindsay Davenport, their leading player, will be 30 in June and is not playing on clay this spring and there continues to be behind-the-scenes attempts to get the Russian teenager Maria Sharapova, the world No4 and 2004 Wimbledon champion, to switch nationalities, as did Martina Navratilova, who won 18 grand slam singles titles, and has recently been a fierce critic of Serena Williams. "She should be in her physical prime, but she is wasting time you cannot ever get back. She had the opportunity to be the greatest in history."
Justine Henin-Hardenne continued her Family Circle Cup dominance in Charleston with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Croatia's baseliner Karolina Sprem. The world No3, eliminated in the first round of her previous tournament, in Miami, appeared to gain strength in her second Charleston match to reach the quarter-finals of the event she won in 2003 and last year. "I don't have any problems physically," the Belgian said.
Steve Bierley
Saturday April 15, 2006
The Guardian
Serena Williams, the seven-time grand slam champion who has been out of action since losing in the Australian Open third round in January, is expected to announce shortly that she will not play any more tennis this year.
Williams has dropped to world No106 and has struggled with injuries since having an operation on her left knee in 2003. Six of her grand-slam victories came before that surgery and, although she appeared to have turned her career around at the beginning of last year when she won the Australian Open, the younger of the Williams sisters has failed to make the quarter-finals in her last three slams.
She was patently unfit and ill-prepared when she lost to Daniela Hantuchova in Melbourne three months ago, and since then has withdrawn from every event she has entered. The 24-year-old American, who has earned close to $16m (£9m) in prize money alone since turning professional in 1995, has numerous outside interests, including a tentative career in acting and her own fashion label.
It would be unwise to write off her career at this stage, given that she took eight months out in 2003-04, and has rarely, like her sister Venus, played a full season. Serena will also have noted that Martina Hingis, the former world No1, "retired"' in 2002 before returning last year. Nothing has ever been straightforward with the Williams sisters.
There is also concern within the WTA, the women's ruling body, that Venus, who will be 26 in June, may be unable to defend her Wimbledon title. Since losing in the first round of the Australian Open she has also spent the rest of the year posting her absence with a series of ligament sprains to her right arm, including the wrist and elbow.
If Venus, currently ranked No 12, does not manage to get play on the European clay courts this spring it may be impossible for the five-time slam champion to compete on grass, although last year she famously won Wimbeldon for a third time after minimum preparation. In this respect the sisters have always been a law to themselves although their father and coach Richard Williams has always insisted his daughters should retire early.
With so much revenue generated in the United States, the WTA will be anxious to give the Williams sisters all the time they need. Lindsay Davenport, their leading player, will be 30 in June and is not playing on clay this spring and there continues to be behind-the-scenes attempts to get the Russian teenager Maria Sharapova, the world No4 and 2004 Wimbledon champion, to switch nationalities, as did Martina Navratilova, who won 18 grand slam singles titles, and has recently been a fierce critic of Serena Williams. "She should be in her physical prime, but she is wasting time you cannot ever get back. She had the opportunity to be the greatest in history."
Justine Henin-Hardenne continued her Family Circle Cup dominance in Charleston with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Croatia's baseliner Karolina Sprem. The world No3, eliminated in the first round of her previous tournament, in Miami, appeared to gain strength in her second Charleston match to reach the quarter-finals of the event she won in 2003 and last year. "I don't have any problems physically," the Belgian said.
